Digital Commons Network^™

Young Men Consuming Newspaper Prostitution: A Discourse Analysis Of Responses To Irish Newspaper Coverage Of Prostitution., Joseph Fitzgerald, Brendan O'Rourke

Articles

In this article we look at how young men consume coverage of prostitution in Irish newspapers. This is important for a number of reasons. Firstly, because the media, and newspapers in particular, seem to be an important source of information for people (Meade, 2008). This is especially true in the case of prostitution, as the only contact the citizenry generally have with sex-workers is through the media (Hallgrimsdottir, Phillips and Benoit, 2006). In many Western countries consuming media is one of the main activities that people, particularly young people, engage in and therefore is the prism through which they view …

Bacterial Host Interactions In Cystic Fibrosis, Máire Callaghan, Siobhan Mcclean

Articles

Chronic infection is a hallmark of cystic fibrosis (CF) and the main contributor to morbidity. Microbial infection in CF is complex, due to the number of different species that colonise the CF lung. Their colonisation is facilitated by a host response that is impaired or compromised by highly viscous mucous, zones of hypoxia and the lack of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR). Successful dominant CF pathogens combine an effective arsenal to establish infection and counter-attack the host response, together with an ability to adapt readily to an unfavourable environment. Hypermutability is common among CF pathogens facilitating adaptation and as …

The Importance Of Serum Serotonin Levels In The Measurement Of Radiation-Induced Bystander Cell Death In Hacat Cells, Fiona Lyng, Maxine Desplanques, K.K. Jella, Amaya Garcia, Brendan Mcclean

Articles

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the importance of serum serotonin levels in the measurement of bystander cell death. The study was undertaken as part of an intercomparison exercise involving seven European laboratories funded under the European Union Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) Non-Targeted Effects (NOTE) integrated project. Materials and Methods: Three batches of foetal bovine serum were tested; serum with high and low serotonin content from the intercomparison exercise as well as serum from the home laboratory. Three sets of human keratinocytes (HaCaT cell line) were cultured in DMEM:F12 medium supplemented with serum with high or low …

Profiling Instances In Noise Reduction, Sarah Jane Delany, Nicola Segata, Brian Macnamee

Articles

The dependency on the quality of the training data has led to significant work in noise reduction for instance-based learning algorithms. This paper presents an empirical evaluation of current noise reduction techniques, not just from the perspective of their comparative performance, but from the perspective of investigating the types of instances that they focus on for re- moval. A novel instance profiling technique known as RDCL profiling allows the structure of a training set to be analysed at the instance level cate- gorising each instance based on modelling their local competence properties. This profiling approach o↵ers the opportunity of investigating …

Use Of Colour Duplex Ultrasound As A First Line Surveillance Tool Following Evar Is Associated With A Reduction In Cost Without Compromising Accuracy, C. Gray, Patrick J. Goodman, C. C. Herron, L. P. Lawler, M. K. O'Malley, M. K. O'Donohoe, C. O. Mc. Donnell

Articles

CT scanning remains the postoperative surveillance imaging modality of choice following EVAR. Concerns regarding cost, exposure to ionising radiation and intravenous contrast have led to a search for a less expensive, equally efficacious and safer method of monitoring EVAR patients after endograft deployment. This study evaluated the cost saving obtained if CDUS was employed as a first line surveillance tool following EVAR, as well as comparing the two entities in terms of efficacy. Patients & methods: Postoperative surveillance CTs and CDUS scans in the 145 patients who have undergone EVAR from 1st June 2003 to 1st July 2010 were compared …

Personality Modulates The Effects Of Emotional Arousal And Valence On Brain Activation, Elizabeth G. Kehoe, John M. Toomey, Joshua H. Balsters, Arun L.W. Bokde

Articles

The influence of personality on the neural correlates of emotional processing is still not well characterized. We investigated the relationship between extraversion and neuroticism and emotional perception using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a group of 23 young, healthy women. Using a parametric modulation approach, we examined how the blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal varied with the participants’ ratings of arousal and valence, and whether levels of extraversion and neuroticism were related to these modulations. In particular, we wished to test Eysenck's biological theory of personality, which links high extraversion to lower levels of reticulothalamic–cortical arousal, and neuroticism …

Developments In Performance Monitoring Of Concrete Exposed To Extreme Environments., W. J. Mccarter, T. M. Chrisp, G. Starrs, A. Adamson, E. Owens, P. A. M. Basheer, S. V. Nanukuttan, S. Srinivasan, Niall Holmes

Articles

The performance of the surface zone of concrete is acknowledged as a major factor governing the rate of deterioration of reinforced concrete structures because it provides the only barrier to the ingress of water containing dissolved ionic species such as chlorides, which ultimately initiate corrosion of the reinforcement. In situ monitoring of cover-zone concrete is therefore critical in attempting to make realistic predictions as to the in-service performance of the structure. To this end, this paper presents developments in a remote interrogation system to allow for continuous, real-time monitoring of the cover-zone concrete from an office setting. Use is made …

Clinical Coverage Of An Archetype Repository Over Snomed-Ct., Sheng Yu, Damon Berry, Jesus Bisbal

Articles

Clinical archetypes provide a means for health professionals to design what should be communicated as part of an Electronic Health Record (EHR). An ever-growing number of archetype definitions follow this health information modelling approach, and this international archetype resource will eventually cover a large number of clinical concepts. On the other hand, clinical terminology systems that can be referenced by archetypes also have a wide coverage over many types of health-care information.

No existing work measures the clinical content coverage of archetypes using terminology systems as a metric. Archetype authors require guidance to identify under-covered clinical areas that may need …

Statistical Optimization Of Blanching Time And Temperature Of Irish York Cabbage Using Desirability Function, Amit Jaiswal, Nissreen Abu-Ghannam, Shilpi Gupta

Articles

The effect of different heat treatments, as a means of preprocessing, on the phytochemicals present in Irish York cabbage was studied. A comparison of blanching (by immersing in water) and microwaving (using water as a medium) indicated that microwaving is detrimental to the phytochemicals present in cabbage. To achieve a blanching time and temperature combination that would result in minimal loss of phytochemicals, central composite design that integrates a desirability approach was used. A second-order polynomial equation was developed, indicating the effect of the blanching time and temperature on the total phenol content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl …

Physicochemical And Microbiological Quality Of Water From A Pilot Domestic Rainwater Harvesting Facility In Ireland., Sean O'Hogain, Liam Mccarton, Niamh Mcintyre, Jenny Pender, Anna Reid

Articles

DTC Research Group, Dublin Institute of Technology personnel were commissioned in 2005 by the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government in Ireland to assess the feasibility of utilising harvested rainwater to replace treated mains water, for non-potable uses. A pilot project was set up. The project involved the design, installation, commissioning and monitoring of rainwater harvesting facilities in a rural housing development. A monitoring program was carried out to examine the physico-chemical and microbiological quality of the harvested rainwater. Harvested rainwater was sampled monthly and tested. Analysis of the harvested rainwater quality showed a consistently high quality of raw …

The Changing Geography And Fortunes Of Dublin Haute Cuisine Restaurants, 1958-2008, Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire

Articles

This paper considers the changing geography and fortunes of Dublin’s haute cuisine restaurants over the last half century, placing them within both a national and international context. Ireland’s place within the global story of food is discussed, and the paper illustrates links between Dublin and European and global trends. The paper points out that Dublin in the 1950s could be seen as the gastronomic capital of the British Isles. The leading restaurateurs are briefly profiled, and the decline, stagnation, and gradual re-birth of Dublin’s haute cuisine restaurants over the 1958-2008 period is charted and discussed. The paper combines data from …

Rethinking Merger Efficiencies, Daniel A. Crane

Articles

The two leading merger systems-those of the United States and the European Union-treat the potential benefits and risks of mergers asymmetrically. Both systems require considerably greater proof of efficiencies than they do of potential harms if the efficiencies are to offset concerns over the accumulation or exercise of market power The implicit asymmetry principle has important systemic effects for merger control. It not only stands in the way of some socially desirable mergers but also may indirectly facilitate the clearance of some socially undesirable mergers. Neither system explicitly justifies this asymmetry, and none of the plausible justifications are normatively supportable. …

Sex, Privacy And Public Health In A Casual Encounters Culture, Mary D. Fan

Articles

The regulation of sex and disease is a cultural and political flashpoint and recurring challenge that law's antiquated arsenal has been hard- pressed to effectively address. Compelling data demonstrate the need for attention—for example, one in four women aged fourteen to nineteen is infected with at least one sexually transmitted disease ("STD"); managing STDs costs an estimated $15.9 billion annually; and syphilis, once near eradication, is on the rise again, as are the rates of HIV diagnosis among people aged fifteen to twenty-four. Public health officials on the front lines have called for paradigm changes to tackle the enormous challenge. …

A Comparative Study On The Polyphenolic Content, Antibacterial Activity And Antioxidant Capacity Of Different Solvent Extracts Of Brassica Oleracea Vegetables, Amit Jaiswal, Nissreen Abu-Ghannam, Shilpi Gupta

Articles

Brassica vegetables are rich in polyphenols, flavonoids and glucosinolates. Investigation was undertaken to optimise the best solvents among 60% ethanol, acetone and methanol for the extraction of polyphenols from Brassica vegetables. Furthermore, different properties such as antibacterial activity and antioxidant capacity were also investigated. Results showed that a 60% methanolic extract showed the highest total phenolic content which was 23.6, 20.4 and 18.7 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE) g−1 extract for broccoli, Brussels sprouts and white cabbage, respectively. The hydroxybenzoic acid content of various solvent extracts ranged from 5.86 to 8.91 GAE g−1 extract for broccoli, 2.70 to 5.44 GAE …

Digital Books And The Salvation Of Academic Publishing., Roger Cross

Articles

Digitization was not, nor ever will be, the solution to problems faced by Academic Libraries. Digitization cannot be downplayed, however no amount of digitization will ever address the systemic issues that lie at the heart of academic library’s difficulties. Digitization is merely a means of data delivery and as such does not address foundational defects within the academic system. The true salvation through digitization will not be found in libraries, but in commercial publisher’s bottom line.

Performance Of Coiled Tube Ultraviolet Reactors To Inactivate Escherichia Coli W1485 And Bacillus Cereus Endospores In Raw Cow Milk And Commercially Processed Skimmed Cow Milk, Ruplal Choudhary, Srinivasaro Bandla, Dennis G. Watson, John Haddock, Amer Abughazaleh, Bhaskar Battacharya

Articles

Two coiled tube reactors were designed to investigate the influence of Reynolds number (Re) and diameter of fluid carrying tube on UV-C inactivation of Escherichia coli W1485 and Bacillus cereus endospores in raw cow milk (RCM) and skimmed cow milk (SCM) at room temperature. UV reactors were constructed using perfluoroalkoxy (PFA) tubing having internal diameters of 1.6 and 3.2 mm and each had a residence time of 11.3 s. Four levels of Re were tested for each milk type, each tube size and each bacteria type. Inactivation efficiency increased as the Re increased in both the reactors for both types …

An Environmental Analysis Of Illinois Coal Entry Into The Transportation Market, Darin M. Starkey, James A. Mathias, Bradley C. Paul

Articles

Using Illinois coal in transportation has varied environmental consequences. This study calculated the total CO₂ emissions from gasoline and eight other vehicle propulsion methods (VPMs) involving Illinois coal. VPMs of Ultra Super Critical electrical cycle (USC), Integrated Gasification Combined electrical Cycle (IGCC), Pulverized coal in a Sub-Critical electrical cycle (PSC), and electricity from a hydrogen fuel cell emitted the lowest CO₂. VPMs using Illinois coal to produce ethanol, butanol, and IGCC/ethanol emitted CO₂ comparable to gasoline. The VPM of Fischer-Tropsch (FT) diesel emitted the most CO₂. It was concluded that energy efficiency and CO …

Climate Change And The Conservation Of Archaeological Sites: A Review Of Impacts Theory, Caithleen Daly

Articles

This article identifies the current state of knowledge in the literature regarding the possible impacts of future climatic change on archaeological sites and ensembles. Drawing on the literature review a matrix of potential impacts is collated to provide a simplified overview. This theoretical ‘menu’ is then tested by applying it to a vulnerability assessment of the World Heritage site of Skellig Michael in Ireland. The case study results reveal some knowledge gaps, particularly in regard to the impacts of climate change on buried archaeological remains.

Who Benefits From Early Childcare Subsidy Design In Ireland?, Bernie O'Donoghue Hynes, Noirin Hayes

Articles

Best Newcomer Article

The design of policy tools reveals underlying biases that are not easily identified in policy documents. A review of two early childhood education and care subsidies in Ireland aimed at different target populations exposes differential treatment of children, parents and service providers. It also demonstrates how in a split system ‘early education’ is prioritised over ‘childcare’. The designs serve to reinforce stereotypes that enable the powerful and advantaged to accrue benefits while those perceived to be less deserving are burdened through the maldistribution of resources.

Hiring Teams, Firms, And Lawyers: Evidence Of The Evolving Relationship In The Corporate Legal Market, Michele M. Destefano, John C. Coates, Ashish Nanda, David B. Wilkins

Articles

How are relationships between corporate clients and law firms evolving? Drawing on interview and survey data from 166 chief legal officers of S&P 500 companies from 2006-2007, we find that-contrary to standard depictions of corporate client-provider relationships-(1) large companies have relationships with ten to twenty preferred providers; (2) these relationships continue to be enduring, and (3) clients focus not only on law firm platforms and lead partners, but also on teams and departments within preferred providers, allocating work to these subunits at rival firms over time and following "star" lawyers, especially if they move as part of a team. The …

Nonthermal Plasma Inactivation Of Food-Borne Pathogens, N. Misra, B. Tiwari, K. Rahavarao, Patrick J. Cullen

Articles

Non-thermal plasma (NTP) is electrically energized matter, composed of highly reactive species including gas molecules, charged particles in the form of positive ions, negative ions, free radicals, electrons and quanta of electromagnetic radiation (photons) at near-room temperature. NTP is an emerging nonthermal technology with potential applications for decontamination in the food industries. An upsurge in the research activities for plasma based inactivation of food borne pathogens is evident in the recent years. These studies have shown that NTP can be used for the surface decontamination of raw produce, dried nuts and the packaging materials etc. This paper reviews the action …

Activation Of Mmp-9 By Human Lung Epithelial Cells In Response To The Cystic Fibrosis-Associated Pathogen Burkholderia Cenocepacia Reduced Wound Healing In Vitro, Ciara Wright ], Ruth Pilkington, Máire Callaghan, Siobhan Mcclean

Articles

Burkholderia cepacia complex is a group of bacterial pathogens that cause opportunistic infections in cystic fibrosis (CF). The most virulent of these is Burkholderia cenocepacia. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are upregulated in CF patients. The aim of this work was to examine the role of MMPs in the pathogenesis of B. cepacia complex, which has not been explored to date. Real-time PCR analysis showed that B. cenocepacia infection upregulated MMP-2 and MMP-9 genes in the CF lung cell line CFBE41o- within 1 h, whereas MMP-2, -7, and -9 genes were upregulated in the non-CF lung cell line 16HBE14o-. Conditioned media from …

Application Of Baranyi Function To Model The Antibacterial Properties Of Solvent Extract From Irish York Cabbage Against Food Spoilage And Pathogenic Bacteria, Amit Jaiswal, Nissreen Abu-Ghannam, Shilpi Gupta, Sabrina Cox

Articles

Cabbage is a rich source of a number of bioactive compounds such as flavonoids, glucosinolates and their breakdown products which may have antibacterial, antioxidant and anticancer properties. Outer green leaves of York cabbage were extracted with 60% methanol, ethanol or acetone. Antibacterial activities of vacuum dried crude extracts were estimated against a number of Gram-positive and Gram-negative food spoilage and food pathogenic bacteria. The crude extracts showed a broad spectrum of antibacterial activities but 60% methanol extract exhibited the highest antibacterial effect. Complete growth inhibition for Listeria monocytogenes was achieved with an extract concentration of 1.4%, whereas a two-fold concentration …

Human Reliability Analysis In Healthcare, Esa M. Rantanen, Joe Deeter

Articles

The problem of human error in healthcare is well documented. Other domains (such as transportation and energy) have used techniques and methods from the engineering disciplines to analyze and ultimately reduce instances of error. In New York State (NYS), the Department of Health (DOH) requires the use of one such method, Root Cause Analysis (RCA), in investigating and reporting the occurrence of and response to sentinel events by hospitals. Despite the use of the RCA technique in an attempt to identify and mitigate the root causes of error, the problem of human error contributing to sentinel events persists. Experts in …

Country At A Crossroads: An Insight Into How An Economic Crisis Led To Dramatic Policy Change, John Hogan, Ana Maza

Articles

In this paper, we try to understand the nature of the changes to Mexican macroeconomic policy in the early 1980s using a critical juncture framework. The framework argues that three elements - crisis, ideational change, and radical policy change - must be identified in order for us to be able to declare, with some certainty, whether an event constitutes a critical juncture. Utilizing this framework, we will ascertain if the changes to Mexican macroeconomic policy constituted a clean break with the past, or were a continuation of previously established policy pathways.

Productivity Evaluation Of Self-Adaptive Software Model Driven Architecture, Basel Magableh

Articles

Anticipating context changes using a model-based approach requires a formal procedure for analysing and modelling context-dependent functionality and stable description of the architecture which supports dynamic decision-making and architecture evolution. This article demonstrates the capabilities of the context-oriented component-based application-model-driven architecture (COCA-MDA) to support the development of self- adaptive applications; the authors describe a state-of-the-art case study and evaluate the development effort involved in adopting the COCA-MDA in constructing the application. An intensive analysis of the applica- tion requirements simplified the process of modelling the application’s behavioural model; therefore, instead of modelling several variation models, the developers modelled an extra-functionality …

Economic And Social Impacts Of Wildfires And Invasive Plants In American Deserts: Lessons From The Great Basin, Mark W. Brunson, John Tanaka

Articles

Research on the impacts of wildfire and invasive plants in rangelands has focused on biophysical rather than human dimensions of these environmental processes. We offer a synthetic perspective on economic and social aspects of wildfire and invasive plants in American deserts, focusing on the Great Basin because greater research attention has been given to the effects of cheatgrass expansion than to other desert wildfire/invasion cycles. We focus first on impacts at the level of the individual decision-maker, then on impacts experienced at the human community or larger socio-political scales. Economic impacts of wildfire differ from those of invasive grasses because …

Understanding And Supporting Young People Who Self Injure In Social Care Settings, David Williams

Articles

Abstract: this article provides a brief discussion on the issue of young people who self injure in social care settings. The discussion identifies this issue to be extremely challenging for social care workers caring for clients presenting with self injurious behaviour. The article focuses on providing some key definitions of self injury, identifies some key concepts in helping professionals understand the functions and reasons for self injurious behaviour and finally suggests some practical guidelines for social care workers in responding to young people in their care who harm themselves. The underlying ethos of these guidelines being the importance of using …

Model-Driven Productivity Evaluation For Self-Adaptive Context-Oriented Software Development, Basel Magableh, Stephen Barrett

Articles

Anticipating context changes using a model-based approach requires a formal procedure for analysing and mod- elling their context-dependent functionality, and a stable descrip- tion of the architecture which supports dynamic decision-making and architecture evolution. This article demonstrates the capabil- ities of the context-oriented component-based application-model- driven architecture (COCA-MDA) to support the development of self-adaptive applications; we describe a state-of-the-art case study and evaluate the development effort involved in adopting the COCA-MDA in constructing the application. An intensive analysis of the application requirements simplified the process of modelling the application’s behavioural model; therefore, instead of modelling several variation models, the developers …

Zoning Finality: Reconceptualizing Res Judicata Doctrine In Land Use Cases, Stewart E. Sterk, Kimberly J. Brunelle

Articles

Zoning disputes provide many Americans with their only firsthand exposure to the workings of democratic government. Land use issues trigger participation because neighbors perceive the wrong kind of development as posing a double-barreled threat to the stability of the community in which they have chosen to live and to the economic value of their homes.